Thursday, December 12th
8 a.m PST| 11 a.m EST
Our special guest this week, Jonathan Marks, Arbitrator/Mediator
MarksADR, LLC, will Present on:
Pitfalls and Promise of Process Management and Evaluation in Commercial and Corporate Mediations
I’ve spent the majority of my professional time for more than 40 years as a mediator of higher-stakes corporate, commercial, and professional disputes, with a significant smattering of class actions. As I reflect both on that history and the mediations I have done over the past year or two, it remains the case that the most challenging, and, frankly, interesting elements of my practice have been and continue to be process management and evaluation. I’ve preached for a long time, and continue to try to implement in practice the proposition that the chances of settlement in any such mediation will be materially improved if the mediator and the parties, clients and counsel, approach the mediation not as a single event, but as an incremental process, in which the parties – usually through outside counsel – and the mediator work together to set and participate in multiple, pre-mediation-session interactions and carefully design in advance an agenda for the actual mediation session. In my presentation, I’ll offer, then hope we can discuss, what I believe are some key lessons learned about the process management role of the mediator. In that context, I’ll also address a potentially key but fraught end-element of the mediation process in disputes where a key barrier appears to be materially divergent judgments about what will happen in court or arbitration if there is no settlement – the mediator’s multiple possible evaluative roles.
When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting the food bank, Maryland Food Bank
Our presenter:
Jonathan B. Marks has been a full-time mediator and arbitrator since 1981, when he co-founded ENDISPUTE. In 1999, Mr. Marks founded MarksADR, LLC, where he now practices. Mr. Marks serves U.S.-based and international clients. He is usually retained for merits-based mediations in complicated, high-stakes disputes. In recent years, he has spent more than 50% of his professional time as an arbitrator of domestic and international disputes.
Mr. Marks graduated from Harvard College and the Harvard Law School, where he was President of the Harvard Law Review. Before becoming a full-time neutral, he was a federal prosecutor, serving as an Assistant States Attorney for the District of Columbia; a litigation partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles; Counsel and Associate Director of the United States Peace Corps; and General Counsel of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency. Before law school, Mr. Marks served in India as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Offered by Will Work For Food, founded by Natalie Armstrong-Motin (www.HowToMarketMyMediationPractice.com and moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ) and Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com)
This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else. Join in! Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.